Could Texas be the next state to approve of growing hemp for industrial uses? (KRIS)
CORPUS CHRISTI -
Support is growing across Texas for legislation that would allow farmers the opportunity to grow hemp. If passed, it could bring hundreds of millions of dollars into the Texas economy.
Hemp is a cannabis plant that has very small concentrations of THC, so the plant has no intoxicating attributes.
For farmers it could serve as a dual purpose crop. It's both seed and oil for grain and it's also one of the longest and strongest natural fibers that's used to make rope, fiberboard and even paper.
Since 2014, 29 states have introduced industrial hemp legislation.
"So, with the adoption from these other 29 states for industrial hemp, we want to be able to cultivate the crop, we can import every part of it right now but we can't grow it so this would allow us to get seeds in the ground and begin farming and help to restore our rural economies," said Coleman Hemphill of the Texas Hemp Industries Association.
In 2014 alone, $621 million worth of industrial hemp products were imported into the US and that doesn't include sales from major retailers who sale hemp seed oil and hemp seeds.
A new bill to allow hemp growing in Texas is expected to be introduced early next year.
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